Review of the new Netflix show based in the Parisian comedy scene, from the creator of Call My Agent!

Following the huge global success of Call My Agent!, its creator Fanny Herrero has now turned her attention to the nascent French stand-up scene.

The world of jobbing and struggling comedians has been well-covered in TV shows and movies, many of them written by comics themselves. So, in many ways, Standing Up is on familiar territory as it follows performers juggling the artistic, financial and family demands of trying to follow their dreams and figure out who they are, on stage and off, and what they are prepared to sacrifice to make it.

And in another familiar trope, the stand-up depicted on screen in this new Netflix series tends to feel flat and unnatural, even routines that are supposed to be killers are nothing more than mildly funny. Maybe something was lost in translation from the original French? It can’t be easy to overdub a stand-up set in an isolated recording booth.

However, Herrero knows how to create compelling characters, and it’s not long before the viewer is drawn into the main quartet here. That Standing Up (Drôle in French, also the name of the club where they ply their trade) is set in the tiny and still new Parisian stand-up scene is a point of difference, too. The community is younger and closer, with more apparent comradeship in trying to find their way and make the leap from pay-what-you-want club gigs to the holy grail of their own theatre shows.

Also, as Herrero has noted in interviews, because France doesn’t have a tradition of conversational stand-up in the American or British style, the new circuit is being driven mainly by immigrant talents who are forming their own notions of the industry and artform based on what they’ve seen on YouTube or Netflix.

Algerian Nezir (Younès Boucif) is struggling to make ends meet, supporting his dad and stuck in the gig economy, cycling around Paris doing food delivery appries.  At least it gives him the evenings off and a chance to run through material while at work – something a better-paid night job he’s offered will never allow.

For Aïssatou (Mariama Gueye), the struggle is with her husband, who feels betrayed by how much of their personal life she exploits on stage, especially when a clip of intimate material  goes viral. This charismatic performer looks set to be the emerging star of the group, both in the series and in real life.

Vietnamese Bling (Jean Siuen) had already had his moment in the sun, which enabled him to open the Drôle club. But he’s stagnated, unable to write new jokes and lashing out when a performance in front of his agent goes south.

From the second episode, the woman he clashes with,  Appoline, develops her own storyline as she takes the first tentative steps to open-spot comedian, even though her wealthy parents are sure to disapprove.

Despite all the shortcomings in trying to bottle the lightning of live comedy, all their stories will keep you interested and entertained.

• Standing Up is on Netflix now.

Review date: 21 Mar 2022
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett